Blindness Spring 2017 (블라인드니스) – Seoul Fashion Week

Model Chang Hyeok Son in the Blindness Spring 2017 show in Seoul. (photo by Ryan Bentley for Meniscus Magazine)

Unisex collections typically comprise most of the runway proceedings at Seoul Fashion Week, but this Spring 2017 season seemed to blur the distinction between menswear and womenswear far more so than in the recent past. (One example of this was the decision to outfit male models in stiletto heels at the pushBUTTON show, with the sole intention of creating even more regal statures.) Nowhere was this gender bending more jarringly apparent than in the Blindness Spring 2017 collection, in which men wore womenswear-influenced pieces referencing the character of Einar Wegener in the film “The Danish Girl.”

It was a huge risk by designer Park Ji Sun and creative director Shin Kyu Yong to move forward with their vision of “elegant menswear,” and unfortunately that decision did not pay off. Fishnet hoodies, skinny crop pants, V-neck belted blouses and trench dress coats were just a few of the baffling choices. Ubiquitous pearls dangled everywhere: from cuffs, along hems, around ankle boots and wide-brimmed hats, and even as earrings. The whole procession made one wonder if the intention was to shock rather than to properly outfit. Women’s clothing in the guise of menswear – that is, honestly, devoid of the elegance it intended to project – is going to be a tough commercial sell in what is still a fairly conservative domestic target market.